As a member of the patient and consumer health team at ZS, I know that patients continue to expect easier access to better content. I was eager to hear how industry leaders were innovating to exceed those heightened expectations at the recent Digital Pharma East conference, which was held Oct. 16-19 in Philadelphia.

This post is the third in a four-part series on how pharmaceutical companies can elevate their forecasting operations. To learn more about next-generation analytics in forecasting, check out Matt’s session at theZS Impact Summit, held Nov. 6-7 in Chicago.

Advances in data availability and the technology needed to harness that data have led many to ask how new technology could be used to implement advanced forecasting platforms for regional or global use. These platforms are typically software that sits online to enhance a forecasting process, whether specific to a country or used globally. Often, these questions are focused on increasing the efficiency of the existing forecasting team. While increasing the efficiency is important, it typically doesn’t generate enough organizational impact relative to the investment required to build and maintain a sophisticated piece of software. Platforms should strive to enable better decisions faster and more broadly than just reducing forecaster effort.

"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man."

The quote by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus applies perfectly to marketing in today’s digital world, where hyper-personalization efforts at millisecond intervals are important to delivering engaging customer experiences and meeting the customer “in the moment.” Digital disruption is creating a mandate for every company, including those in life sciences, to transform into an “experience-first” company.

Just weeks ago, a looming merger between two major health insurance companies threatened to alter the health insurance market’s competitive landscape. The $54 billion deal between Anthem and Cigna was blocked by a federal judge in early February, on the same grounds as a $37 billion deal between Aetna and Humana that was blocked in January. According to the judges’ rulings, both deals would have reduced competition and increased prices.

December’s news about planned hospital consolidations in Atlanta and Chicago is a reminder of how local healthcare ecosystems are changing in different ways and at different paces. In Atlanta, the year’s steady drumbeat of hospital consolidation news culminated in WellStar Health System’s announced acquisition of Tenet Healthcare’s five regional hospitals. At the same time, healthcare players in Chicago were reeling from the news that the FTC plans to block the merger of Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University HealthSystem, which would have formed one of the nation’s largest hospital systems.

As a member of the patient and consumer health team at ZS, I know that patients continue to expect easier access to better content. I was eager to hear how industry leaders were innovating to exceed those heightened expectations at the recent Digital Pharma East conference, which was held Oct. 16-19 in Philadelphia.

This post is the third in a four-part series on how pharmaceutical companies can elevate their forecasting operations. To learn more about next-generation analytics in forecasting, check out Matt’s session at theZS Impact Summit, held Nov. 6-7 in Chicago.

Advances in data availability and the technology needed to harness that data have led many to ask how new technology could be used to implement advanced forecasting platforms for regional or global use. These platforms are typically software that sits online to enhance a forecasting process, whether specific to a country or used globally. Often, these questions are focused on increasing the efficiency of the existing forecasting team. While increasing the efficiency is important, it typically doesn’t generate enough organizational impact relative to the investment required to build and maintain a sophisticated piece of software. Platforms should strive to enable better decisions faster and more broadly than just reducing forecaster effort.

"No man ever steps in the same river twice, for it's not the same river and he's not the same man."

The quote by the Greek philosopher Heraclitus applies perfectly to marketing in today’s digital world, where hyper-personalization efforts at millisecond intervals are important to delivering engaging customer experiences and meeting the customer “in the moment.” Digital disruption is creating a mandate for every company, including those in life sciences, to transform into an “experience-first” company.

Just weeks ago, a looming merger between two major health insurance companies threatened to alter the health insurance market’s competitive landscape. The $54 billion deal between Anthem and Cigna was blocked by a federal judge in early February, on the same grounds as a $37 billion deal between Aetna and Humana that was blocked in January. According to the judges’ rulings, both deals would have reduced competition and increased prices.

December’s news about planned hospital consolidations in Atlanta and Chicago is a reminder of how local healthcare ecosystems are changing in different ways and at different paces. In Atlanta, the year’s steady drumbeat of hospital consolidation news culminated in WellStar Health System’s announced acquisition of Tenet Healthcare’s five regional hospitals. At the same time, healthcare players in Chicago were reeling from the news that the FTC plans to block the merger of Advocate Health Care and NorthShore University HealthSystem, which would have formed one of the nation’s largest hospital systems.